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| Thursday, September 02 | | · | The Heart is Deceitful Above All Things - Toronto International Film Festival |
| · | Billy at Neuqua Valley High |
| Wednesday, September 01 | | · | David Pajo Interview - Punk Planet |
| Thursday, August 19 | | · | Jimmy's studio photos. |
| Saturday, August 14 | | · | Journal Post From Jimmy 8/14 |
| Wednesday, August 11 | | · | James News - Remix of Blue released |
| Thursday, August 05 | | · | Jimmy C. News |
| Wednesday, August 04 | | · | 08.03.04 - Billy Journal Post |
| Monday, August 02 | | · | BC Live show. |
| Friday, July 23 | | · | More Breaking Benjamin News |
| Sunday, July 18 | | · | Jimmy Chamberlin's self-maintained homepage |
| Saturday, July 17 | | · | Pumpkins on GTA: San Andreas Soundtrack |
| · | 07.15.04 - Billy Journal Post |
| Thursday, July 08 | | · | This song so many have covered |
| Wednesday, June 30 | | · | IGN's Breaking Benjamin CD Review |
| Tuesday, June 29 | | · | Corgan's analysis a smashing success |
| Monday, June 28 | | · | The Wrigleyville Report with Billy Corgan |
| · | Billy Corgan: Blinking with Fists |
| Sunday, June 27 | | · | ''Rock's Graduate Student'' |
| · | Looking For A Break |
Older Articles
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| David Pajo Interview - Punk Planet |
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 Here is David's view of what happened with Zwan...enjoy. Credit : Netphoria
But then, rather incongruously, you just spent two years in a band with Billy Corgan from the Smashing Pumpkins. What was it like to immerse yourself in that world?
It was really cool and bizarre. It was something that I definitely wanted to do. I felt like I’d played in the indie-rock world for so long that I knew it inside and out. I wanted something to turn me upside down, and it sure did that. It was cool to see it, but it’s even cooler to not be in it anymore. I realize I’m not interested in being in the pop music world at all. That’s not my world. (More...)
Did you know how far it would go?
It started off as this thing that was Zwan. There was no record commitment and no touring commitment. Once we had the idea to make a record, it all turned upside down. That’s when all the bullshit started. Then it became a business and it was no longer this fun thing.
Why did it become a business?
Because Billy wanted the band to compete on a pop level with other pop artists, whereas the intention of the band wasn’t to do that at all. The intention was just to make music. I think that sort of corrupted the whole thing. Once we made the record, I got to see the other side of the music world– the aggressive, greedy, bullying, corporate part of it that I’d always heard about, but thought that people were sort of exaggerating. But it is pretty brutal, that whole world, and it makes me appreciate that I can make records through Drag City– stuff that I love– on a really simple level. There are no contracts with Drag City, everything’s handshake. There are no advances. We never try to overspend. In the major label world, they spend the money in all the wrong places. So it was a good experience, because I realized what I don’t want out of music.
But you must have expected some of it?
That’s what’s interesting– there wasn’t really any expectation. When I first played with them, it was like, “Will you play with us on these shows?” They were small club shows. Then we spent a couple months writing some really cool songs– really amazing songs. But when the idea came up for a record and all the cool songs got pushed aside for the dumber pop songs.
How was that decision made?
It was . . . I don’t want to blame anybody.
I’m just wondering about the process.
Billy wanted to make a pop album. The way he kept me interested was he said we’ll do a pop album to establish ourselves, and then we’ll do our experimental record afterwards. About halfway through the pop album, I was like, “Why am I doing this? I can make my experimental record now.”
So where was Papa M during all of this? You must have been pretty busy.
The one cool thing is that Billy does work really hard. I ended up not having any time for Papa M! That’s why I started the single series. I was still writing stuff on my own and I’d have these brief moments to record. We’d have a day off in New York and I’d book a studio for the day and record whatever I have. The only way I could keep Papa M active was to put out a single of like three songs every two months or so.
It’s a great idea.
I’m glad I did it. I knew the production was going to be iffy, that it was going to be all over the place. But it’s kind like a scrapbook– an audio tour diary. ¶ It was funny because Zwan was really loud music. But the songs I was writing, like those tour diary singles, were pretty quiet. When I had time away from Zwan I really wanted to do the exact opposite.
The songs on the singles really do sound like a reaction to something, was it kind of an escape for you?
Yeah, totally. It was definitely therapy, though I didn’t think of it like that at the time. I guess at the time I just thought, “This is the kind of music I want to hear right now,” so that’s what I made. But I didn’t realize until after Zwan broke up that I was making the exact opposite kind of music on my own. I think that anytime someone has a voice that they can’t express, they find some sort of avenue. Papa M was always my avenue for that.
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Posted on Wednesday, September 01 @ 14:24:00 MST by anova |
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